The only team to eclipse the Run & Shoot in terms of offensive numbers is when Dan Reeves was head coach with the Atlanta Falcons, although he averaged only 1 win more in the same number of seasons despite a losing SB appearance (to the Denver Broncos).

What is really eye opening is the extreme decrease in offensive numbers in Detroit when Mouse Davis left, and the utter poor coaching job out of Jeff Fischer with Houston/Tennessee trying to implement a more conventional smash mouth run game with strong defense. The fact that Houston had made the playoffs 5 straight times makes the aftermath with Fischer all the more painful, in part because Pardee just as easily could have been 6-4 in 1994 if a few games broke his way.

Fact is that this offense was able to win a similar number of games in the same length of seasons as the more conventional offenses that came afterward. It was just the fear/pressure from the front office of “Super Bowl or Bust”, media scrutiny especially in Houston, and the general staunch old school attitude that led to the disappearance of such an offense.

Ironically, the “Spread” is the 2000’s equivalent of (and really an extension) of the Run and Shoot and has also come under attack at times from the media for being a fad/gimmicky offense that either won’t last long in the NFL (despite what New England has shown) or can’t win a Super Bowl because it can’t stand up in the playoffs/in cold weather when throwing the ball so often.